Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Narrative Traction - Part 1: What Is Narrative Traction?

Narrative traction,
as defined by CS Pacat, is the promise that something more interesting will
happen if you keep reading.

We are often told
in writing classes that tension and stakes are what keep a reader turning
pages, yet I think we have all read scenes, or even entire books, that are not
overly tense, but are still riveting reading. After all, thrillers are not the
bestselling fiction genre, romance is. Romance, of course, often has a lot of
tension of the will they, won't they variety. But sweet romance sells just as
well as the high stakes ones. So, we can not ONLY credit success with tension
and stakes.

There is a thing
Pacat calls 'the sparkly' that needs to be explored before we can look deeper
at narrative traction. It's something I rarely hear other writers talking
about, as I think it is something we have been taught to be ashamed of, despite
the fact it is one of the most obvious and powerful driving forces of book
sales. That's right, we're all being told to be ashamed of what sells books.
(Though I think romance is the genre where the least shame is felt about 'the
sparkly' and maybe that's why it is the bestselling fiction genre.)

We all have stupid
tropes, architypes and clichés we love. Meg, my co-author, loves twins and
unique magic systems. I love dinosaurs, girls dressing as boys and a certain
character trope—cold, intelligent, unobtrusive characters with glasses. Maybe
you love 'enemies to lovers'. Maybe you love grizzled, middle-aged detectives.
Whatever it is, if you pick up a book and the blurb mentions that trope, you
will probably at least consider buying it.

This is 'the
sparkly' and every person has their own sparkly.

It is very
important to first, identify the sparkly that appeal to you as a reader and
then to identify the sparkly in your book as a writer. These are the things you
need to highlight in your pitch to an editor/agent and that your publisher
needs to then highlight in a good blurb. Because, as I have said, they are the
ideas and tropes that make you, as a reader, want to buy a book.

Sparkly that some
people love can put other people off, but that's not a bad thing. If someone
dislikes dystopia, you don't WANT them to read your dystopian novel. They're
not going to enjoy it, they're not going to recommend it to other people and if
they write you a review, it will be along the lines of: "I hate dystopia
novels."

I'm telling you
about sparkly, because they are an important part of identifying the promise
you are making the reader, when you tell them something better will happen if
they keep reading.

Think about a book
recommendation from a friend. They will likely highlight a few key themes:
genre, maybe a character or setting element they love, then they will tell you
it's awesome. They are promising you you will enjoy it if you read it. They are
giving you something to look forward to.

Or, maybe you pick
up a book, read the back cover and it mentions your favourite sparkly—ninjas
girls riding dragons. You want to read the book, because you are anticipating
ninja girls riding dragons.

However, you can
also do this in the text itself. At the start of Harry Potter, when the
Dursley's won't let Harry open his mail with his invite to Hogwarts, we
anticipate that eventually he will get his letter and go to Hogwarts. We are
looking forward to that, we want to see what Hogwarts is like and learn about
wizard school, so we keep reading, eager for that to happen. Harry going to
Hogwarts is a promise that Rowling has made us in the text and we want to see
that promise fulfilled.

When you start to
examine best sellers, you will see this pattern repeated. A promise is made
that readers want to see come to pass. Not just one, but hundreds. Even before
a promise is fulfilled, a new promise is made, so by the time you get the
satisfaction of Harry reaching Hogwarts, you are already focused on the next
promise, and the next, until you're at the end of the book and you're desperate
for the next one, because the book ended with even more promises.

So, pick up your
favourite book and identify the first element that interested you and make you
want to keep reading. Write a list of all the other promises that are made
before that one is fulfilled. I'm guessing there will be at least one,
otherwise, you would probably have put the book down as soon as you got what
you wanted.

To master narrative
traction, you must be able to answer the question: Why am I reading this? What
do I want to know?

Once you have
identified it in other's writing, you will be better able to apply it in your
own.

Come back next week
for part two of narrative traction: Types Of Narrative Traction.

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About Me

Born in 1985, Talitha is a geeky Australian writer who spends an unhealthy amount of time reading and watching horror movies. She also loves fresh water shrimps and snakes, and lives in a house dominated by various tanks housing both. She advises that shrimps are the best companions for writers; as they always look like they are typing. Snakes, on the other hand, simply knock everything off your desk—including keyboards, mugs, entire computers and shrimp tanks.
Talitha’s other interests include entomology, rock climbing, reading, web design, photography and video gaming.